Is Your Community StormReady?

StormReady is a program started by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Tulsa, Oklahoma 12 years ago to help arm communities "with the communication and safety skills needed to save lives and property-before and during the event, " according to the StormReady website.

As of September 6, 2011 Oklahoma is leading the Midwest with 86 StormReady designations, while Missouri comes in 2nd with 63; Kansas 32; Iowa 30 and Nebraska with 24. Our big southern neighbor, Texas, comes in big at 115.

What does that means to residents? It shows that these areas are prepared to help prevent weather-related deaths and injuries through planning, education and early warning systems. 

To become a StormReady designation (a county, city, commercial site, university or supporter site) the area must show they follow six guidelines: Communication, NWS Information Reception, Hydrometerological Monitoring, Local Warning Dissemination, Community Preparedness and Administrative.

Cities, counties, commercial sites, and universities can become StormReady, Tsunami Ready or both. To learn more about this program and to see if your community or University is StormReady, go to the StormReady website.